Honda Odyssey Recall Issued Due To Seat Malfunction, Crash Injury Risk

More than 600,000 Honda Odyssey minivans have been recalled, after the manufacturer received hundreds of consumer complaints indicating that the second row seat locking mechanism failed, allowing the seat to be free sliding and increasing the risk of injury in a crash. 

The Honda Odyssey recall was announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on December 28, following nearly 700 warranty claims indicating the release and locking lever may remain in the unlocked position, posing an injury hazard in the event of a crash. To date, no injuries have been reported in relation to the recall.

The recalled Honda Odyssey minivans are equipped with second row seating that can move forward or backwards on guides when the lever is engaged. Once the seat is slid to the desired depth and the user releases the lever it should lock the seat in place. However, Honda and the NHTSA have received reports of the locking mechanism failing and allowing the seats to continue to slide freely. In the event of a crash, the passengers seated in the second row could be subject to more severe injury or ejection hazards.

Honda was first alerted to the issue in January 2011, when a warranty claim was reported by a customer who indicated the outboard seat was not locking into place. In response, Honda opened an investigation, but was not able to reproduce the lever failure incident. After receiving additional warranty claims, Honda and the seat supplier jointly reopened the investigation in May 2015, and began investigating the issue using returned parts and were able to reproduce the lever failure incident.

After recreating the failure, Honda was able to determine the root cause of the issue was due to excessive grease being applied to the cams during the manufacturing process. The excessive grease in combination with hardening effects due to specific temperatures and humidity ranges and surface roughness of the parts were all contributing factors that could cause the levers to fail to return to the locking position.

Honda concluded the investigation with the decision to recall an estimated 633,753 model year 2011 through 2016 Odyssey vehicles manufactured from August 17, 2010 to October 1, 2015.

The NHTSA announced that Honda will be notifying owners with detailed instructions on how to schedule a free repair appointment at their local dealers to have an additional bracket and spring to both second row outboard seats installed.

Customers with questions regarding the recall are encouraged to contact Honda Customer Service at 1-888-327-4236 and reference the recall number KD5. The recall is anticipated to begin on January 23, 2017.